Service Provider Control Planes

Control planes

Central management system responsible for orchestrating and managing a target environment.

are a fundamental concept in the Platform Mesh architecture that enables the seamless management and orchestration of services across different environments. They serve as the intelligent layer that translates declarative intentions into real-world implementations, bridging the gap between service management and actual capabilities

A concrete incarnation of a service that has been created and configured for a specific application or service.

.

Core Concepts

In the context of Managed Service Providers

A service provider offers services to consumers.

, controllers

A control loop that watch the for state changes and makes or requests changes where needed.

implement the service management component that provides the lifecycle management API interface. This management layer is crucial for handling the dynamic requirements of cloud-based environments, where service consumers

An organization or individual that orders, utilizes, and manages the lifecycle of a service.

need to create and manage service capabilities on demand. The control plane implements the harmonized API layer based on the Kubernetes Resource Model

A framework used in Kubernetes to define and manage the various entities or resources.

, providing a consistent way to express and manage capabilities through those resources representing their digital twins

A virtual representation of a physical object, system, or process that is continuously updated with real-time or near-real-time data to mirror its real-world counterpart.

.

The control plane's architecture aligns perfectly with the Platform Mesh's declarative approach.
Unlike traditional imperative systems where actions are directly executed, declarative intentions (resources

A document defining the desired state of a capability and capturing its actual state. See also Kubernetes Resource Model (KRM).

) are managed in service orchestration environment

The central component of the ApeiroRA Platform Mesh, in which service consumers can order and manage digital twins.

and the controllers make use of those. These intentions represent the desired state of capabilities, and the control plane ensures this state is maintained through continuous reconciliation. This is particularly important for capabilities that require deployment, where the service providers

A service provider offers services to consumers.

need to handle the allocation of infrastructure components and software deployment.

The value of control planes extends to both service providers and consumers

An organization or individual that orders, utilizes, and manages the lifecycle of a service.

.
For providers, the control plane offers a standardized way to expose their services through the declarative API while maintaining full control over the implementation details. Service consumers benefit from a consistent interface for discovering, requesting, and managing capabilities across different providers, regardless of whether they're working with managed

A service provided by a Managed Service Provider (MSP).

or unmanaged

A service not set up and controlled by a service provider.

services.

Through the service marketplace

A place where service providers offer various services, and consumers can discover these services.

, control planes facilitate the discovery and provisioning of capabilities, making it easier for service consumers to find and utilize the services they need. The control plane manages the entire lifecycle of capabilities, from initial provisioning through updates and eventual decommissioning, all through a consistent declarative interface.

As the Platform Mesh continues to evolve, control planes will remain essential in enabling the creation of sophisticated service orchestrations. They provide the foundation for managing modern cloud services while maintaining operational simplicity, making them a cornerstone of the Platform Mesh architecture. Through their implementation of the declarative API model and support for the Managed Service Provider pattern, control planes enable the flexible, scalable, and reliable service ecosystem that the Platform Mesh aims to create.